


HBHBHB--the whole shebang

by Isaoverfloing_withfeelings



Category: Florence + the Machine
Genre: F/F, Lazy - Freeform, Lesbian Sex, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:29:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5450081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaoverfloing_withfeelings/pseuds/Isaoverfloing_withfeelings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is all of HBHBHB, along with the revision of the 1st chapter. I deleted the other one, but I appreciate the kudos and hits I got. </p>
<p>Inspired by discussion with thedark_before_thedawn about HBHBHB, and insideyourarms song-inspired series and the Dressing Room Stories by songsaboutdrowning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How Big. How Blue. How Beautiful--those eyes.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedark_before_thedawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedark_before_thedawn/gifts), [insideyourams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/insideyourams/gifts), [songsaboutdrowning](https://archiveofourown.org/users/songsaboutdrowning/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Levitator](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2047617) by [insideyourams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/insideyourams/pseuds/insideyourams). 



\--Okay, for the record, when people wonder what color Isa’s eyes are—judging from the photos--my eyes are same color. her eyes are between a light blue and gray—depending on what she’s wearing and her mood. But what people really call the color is “amazing, beautiful”.-- 

My first listen of this song, before I read any fanfic, or what Flo claims the song is about—L.A. skyline? Maybe partially because she was in L.A. with Isa, and there are Instagrams of them up in the hills over L.A. By the Hollywood sign? Well, we know that Flo isn’t afraid of heights, so hills? Yeah, I think so. 

My first impression was that she was talking about someone’s eyes. Because that’s how people talk about someone’s eyes. Hence the following. Nothing explicit. Yet. This is only the first chapter for this song. I think there will be a discussion, somewhere in here. We know they hate to separations from each other. And Florence is the more emotionally expressive one; it’s why she’s the lyricist.

My thoughts are that HBHBHB is mostly about their feelings for each other. And POV will shift as the story goes along. Hope I don’t confuse you. Squirrel brain.

I think I’ll call this “lazy, erotic romance”, since it concerns HBHBHB, which seems comparatively playful to the rest of the album.

 

I. How Big. How Blue. How Beautiful.: Those Beautiful blue eyes.

I wake with her so many mornings, I think, my heart swelling with love. I love it when her eyes first open. How big--how blue--how beautiful.  
Oohoohooh! Gotta write it down! Perfect! Like her eyes. Like how I see the L.A. skyline--and watching it come up--it is big, blue and beautiful too. Ha!  
Now to get up without wakin’ up my sweetheart. I can’t help but smile. And give Isa’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and a light kiss.

I throw on one of Isa’s large t-shirts and inhale deeply, daydreaming. Oh god,I think—how distracting, and make myself sit over at the desk with my notebook. I feel my facial muscles scrunch up as I try to think on how to arrange the words on the page. I sigh. 

Argh! Let me just go on this. If I think on it too much, then I won’t be able to think of anything else. I hum to myself, at least I think I’m probably humming, everyone tells me I likely sing in my sleep. I’m waiting for Isa to wake up. Oh, waiting for her to wake up, and I know I’m frowning. And I hate it when we’re separated by that—that--yeah—I hate it when I’m in London and she’s here. I glance in the direction of my little blonde sleeping friend.

Then I hear Isa stirring over on the bed. To hide that I’m working on a new song, I quickly throw the notebook under a pile of clothes near the chair at the foot of the bed. I then tackle Isa before she can throw off the bedclothes. “So how did my love sleep?” I say wrapping my arms my Isabella, tickling her little ear with my breath and my nuzzling lips. 

“Your ‘love’ didn’t sleep very well, what with your tossing around,” she says grumpily, yawning loudly. “Come back to bed, babe. Want to cuddle some more. Still sleepy,” as she pulls a bare arm loose to encircle my neck. 

I smile mischievously into her beautiful, blonde, sweet-smelling hair. Hmm—‘cuddle’—THAT won’t last long. I let go of Isa before pulling off the t-shirt and climbing back under the sheets. 

 

II. Cuddling? Not for long.

Cuddling didn’t last for long either.

Flo again wrapped her long arms around her lover’s small body, sliding them around her waist. She buried her nose in Isa’s platinum blonde hair and inhaled, as she’d done earlier with the t-shirt. I could get lost in this, she thought, and squeezed Isa more tightly. 

“Hey,” Isa said, “I said ‘cuddle’, not ‘squish’.” She laughed. “But now that you’ve started that—“. Her voice trailed off and she quickly flipped her body around to press up against Florence. “I love you so much,” she said, as she moved her lips against the redhead’s neck. Both women moaned softly with the simple pleasure of feeling each other’s body held so closely.

“Come here, hun, I want to suck in those sweet soft lips of yours.”

Isa quickly and willingly complied, cupping Flo’s face in her hands. It didn’t take long for the soft kisses to deepen and begin the move downward. It was a quick scuffle to see who could make the first move to kiss her lover’s body. With her long limbs, the wrestling match was no contest for Flo. Entwined fingers were pinned overhead, with her starting at the juncture of neck and collarbone. On its own, this began Isa’s writhing movements. Her body already tingled from the licks and kisses slowly, excruciatingly slowly, trailing down her small wiry body. 

“Oh god, Flo,” she choked out, “yer gointa kill me.”

“Kill you with kindness?” Flo purred, while licking and blowing on Isa’s full breasts. “I luv yer boobs, babe.”

“Something—oh god!”

“Hmm—not‘oh god’—‘oh Flo’,” she giggled.

“Oh—oh—stop! Please—stop teas—eee—ing—”

Flo began to move her long-fingered hands slowly down Isa’s body while still trailing her lips along.

The smaller woman now wrapped her legs around the other’s torso, pulling her in closer, her hips arching upward to meet the loving humming mouth. Even making love, Florence couldn’t stop singing, Isa thought, fleetingly.

 

III. Plans for climbing.

While toweling herself off after a luxuriously hot shower, Florence started making plans for the day. Hm, we haven’t been up by “the sign” yet. I wonder if Iz is up for a hike?  
“Hey, love, whaddaya think of a climb up by the Hollywood sign?” she called out.

“What? Kinda late in the day, yeah? It’s already midday; you’ll fry.”

 

“Hmm, hmmmmm. Nah! ‘S what sunscreen’s for. I wanna go,” Flo pouted, as she came out of the bathroom. “When d’ya think we’ll get another chance?”

“Ppfff, any time you come for a visit, silly girl,” Isa said as she went over to snuggle her still damp girlfriend.

“No heels, Iz. I don’t care how good you are in them; you’ll break an ankle.”

“Ppfff. That’s you, babe,” Isa laughed. “Come. If you want to go, we’ll go. Get dressed.” She threw on an oversized t-shirt, tied a bandanna around her head and grabbed her shades. “Sneakers. I got the sneakers. Just for you,” she said as she laced up her trainers. “Hurry up.”


	2. Getting rid of baggage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad-ish ending to chapter two. Flo and Isa just took off and did their own thing without any permission from me. And I promise I won’t leave it there. HBHBHB is her uplifting, hopefully-better-place song, yes?  
> And I know I don’t get all the actual timeline right, so this is kind of my version of working and loving and trying to pull one’s head back into the real world. More or less. Some of us don’t quite have our heads in the same sphere as everyone else.

** Ch. 2 Getting rid of baggage **

** I.Making plans & other randomness. **

How does one get up to the famous Hollywood sign? Flo wondered. There’s gotta to be some way beside hiking up the hill. So many pics of people up there.

She hummed to herself, thinking about the song she was writing. It’s gotta to be—I’ll get Isa to look it up for me. She’s so good at shit like that. Oh yeah, climbing up to the sign.—erm, my song. What’s next?

She turned around only to meet Isa’s expectant gaze.

“What are we doin’, babe?”

“Yeah. I like climbing shit, but there’s gotta be some way people get up to the sign besides hiking up the hill. That’s a long way, even for me. Could you look it up please?” She smiled her sweetest smile; the one that she knew was most likely to win her friend over.

Isa faked a grumble. “Boy, the shit I do for you, you red-headed monster.”

Florence walked over and touched foreheads with her slightly grumpy lover. “You know you love it too, my little machine.”

“Yes I do. And you know you take advantage of it too, miss Robot.”

No response was required, so Flo gave none, except a small smile.

A short while later. “We can drive up most of the way, then there’s a path that it _says_ should only take about 45 minutes to walk up. We better take some sandwiches with us,” Isa sighed loudly. “You know, this is turning into a real project.” She squinted at Flo. “You _sure_ you wanna do this _today?”_

Some shopping might be nice, Flo thought. “Maybe not. Some shopping instead?”

“That’s more like it,” and Isa walked over to give her tall friend a little hug.

  1. **Shopping and singing.**



The pair walked around the city, in and out of various shops wherever something caught Flo’s eye. Which was all sorts of items. Some vintage skirt with a paisley pattern, usually something similar to what she already carried with her. A cameo ring. A hat.

Of course, Isa wanted to hit the music stores and pawnshops to check out mixers, MPCs, keyboards and such. It ended up being a long afternoon. And of _course,_ they stopped in a sidewalk café for a couple of glasses of wine. Well, Isa had the wine, and Flo had seltzer, since she’d stopped drinking alcohol. They giggled and walked arm-in-arm. It was so relaxing to go anonymously through the crowd of other shoppers and sightseers.

Flo still had her mind on her song and tried to work out a basic melody. She also sang snatches of the songs she heard floating through the air from the various shops.

Isa looked lovingly up at her, and thought, “I’ll bet she’s working on something, and doesn’t want me to know. She looks so happy right now.”

** III. Time to stop stalling. **

Next morning.

“You know all that stuff we researched about the covens here? Like that starting-over ritual…? It might be a good time to get rid of, **_burn,_** all that shit you still carry around—that reminds you…” Isa left it at that.

Flo looked slightly uncomfortable. “But…”

“Seriously? You want to _keep_ making yourself _and me, and Gracie, and everyone **else** _ miserable with all that shit floating around in yer pretty head?” The blonde looked supremely annoyed by now. “Do or die time, doll,” Isa said flatly, squinting across the room at her.

“Alright, alright. Help me find it,” Flo sighed loudly.

Sometime later.

“Are you sure if this is everything?” Isa asked. “I’m not dealing with any more tears about this,” as she shuffled through the rest of Flo’s belongings.

In a huff, Florence said loudly, “You won’t have to.”

The smaller woman called a cab, asking for a ride up to “the sign”, grabbed Florence’s large, ornate bag, and marched toward the elevator, leaving the taller woman to catch up.

In the car, Isa entwined the fingers of her right hand with Flo’s, trying to calm her. She leaned into her, whispering, “It’s alright. I know it’s hard for you to let go of things, memories…but sometimes you just gotta let the past be past. You’ll feel better—eventually. I promise.”

The pair walked up the side of the hill, Isa making Flo repeat to her what she planned to do with each item.

“We could, _I_ could make a pile…and arrange them by order of—hm—erm—color—time he gave them to me…” She was on the verge of tears.

“Stop. We’ll figure it out once we get there.” Isa sighed.

 

It turned out that Isa was the one who had to light the fire, and held a weeping Florence tightly, rocking her gently as she watched it burn. The redhead curled into a small ball in the smaller woman’s arms, and just cried and cried.


	3. New beginnings, brighter hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is the hopeful note. And as stated in the previous chapter, Isa and Flo just took off with the story, so there isn’t any discussion about separation anxiety on either of their parts. Probably a different story.

  1. **The healing process of creativity begins.**



Several days later, and Flo had mostly cried herself out, for the time being. She was humming happily and working on the song she’d started while watching Isa sleeping that one morning. She was thinking about space, how objects in space revolve around each other, how sometimes _people_ revolve around one another, and smiling, how she and Isa had done that for so long. She loved having Isa around all the time/being around Isa all the time, even though here in L.A. she wasn’t sure which way it was. It made a big smile flow subconsciously across her features, lighting up all those within its vicinity.

The song was coming along nicely; Isa was helping her with it, since it was partly about her, partly about how brightly everything felt here compared to back at home.

The lanky woman had her knees tucked up under her chin while sitting on the Isa’s bed, while Isa played with her studio in a box. She had some crystals and pieces of jewelry arranged on the nightstand next to her. She lightly closed her eyes and enjoyed the play of bright sunlight through her eyelids. She sighed happily; it was like having her own personal kaleidoscope.

Suddenly, she allowed herself to tip sideways, then sprawled her long limbs out like a starfish, brushing Isa’s sun-bronzed thigh. She giggled quietly, knowing that she looked childlike, knowing that Isa was watching her, even though she pretended that she was working on some beats for the new song.

Flo slyly slide her green eyes toward her partner, a ghost of a smile on her thin lips. “Issy?” she called softly. “Iiiisssaaa,” she hissed playfully.

The blonde feigned annoyance, saved her work, and closed her mini-MPC. “You’re a pest. You _do_ know that, yes?” reaching over to play with the silky red strands of hair splayed over the coverlet.

Flo allowed one hand to creep slowly toward one of Isa’s bare thighs, inching toward the edge of the cutoffs she wore. She quickly rolled over and enveloped the smaller woman’s body. “Like a kiss…,” she whispered. “It’s all fits so wonderfully, Iz. Like kisses,” as she lowered her mouth to the soft lips that were so invitingly with reach. “So much like sweet kisses…,” as one palm covered a firm, warm breast.

** II.Work or play. **

Isa’s flip phone buzzed, interrupting the pair. Both of them groaned and they reluctantly pulled apart; it was Maired’s ring, someone they really couldn’t afford ignore. At least not very often.

“Play or progress, darlings,” their manager said sweetly. They were too obvious with their mutually displayed affection. At least in the presence of their bandmates. “I know you’re on hiatus, my lovely nightingale, but still….”

Florence nudged Isa, blushing. Even though public cuddling didn’t embarrass her, talking about it did. Isa poked her back, then grabbed one slim hand, tucking it up under her arm. “A bit of both, Mai love,” she responded as sweetly back to Mairead, and lightly pecked the fingers within her grasp. “Flo’s actually come up with something pretty—playful, for a change,” she relayed with a smile.

“Let me shoot you the file?” Isa asked. “And show you what we have so far. Not that I think you don’t trust us to finish this on our own, but I’d like to get a bit of input from you,” she added hastily.

** III. Let’s take a break and look for inspiration. **

“Let’s take a break, hon,” said Isa as she hopped off the bed. “Lotta bookstores in the area. Maybe it’ll help you take your mind off….”

Flo’s long face clouded over momentarily, but brightened at the thought of browsing through books. Like most bookworms, she loved the smell of the ink on the pages, the musty smell inside small used-book stores.

Isa opened the door to her bright red Ferrari for Flo, and took off down the hill into the city. The tall woman floated her long arm out the window letting her hand ride the air. Keeping her eyes on the road, the small blonde slid her eyes slightly to the side, smiling at her friend’s childlike play. Unless she fell into a fit of depression, Flo was usually fairly easily amused. This made it a joy to stay near her, waiting to see what antics she might display next.

As they meandered the streets, Flo marveled at all of the small boutiques and happily greeted almost everyone they passed. She skipped and twirled, humming along to the music wafting through the air. She was thinking about the rituals and history of the local covens. Even though Markus wanted them to focus on a cleaner sound, “and no drowning analogies, young lady,” he’d said sternly, all of the history she’d absorbed still hung about in her imagination. We’ll get _something_ in _,_ she thought, it would be a shame to throw all of that work away.

Browsing through the used book pile, she found a book on dream work. She looked at the book’s cover, which showed a dreaming woman on it, and quickly flipped through the pages. I really need to sort out my thoughts, she sighed to herself. Maybe some of this will help. Sometimes that time with James all feels like a bad dream; I’m not sure I’m out of it yet. Even with Isa here to help me.

She was unconscious of the few tears that slid unbidden down her cheeks, the hurt was that deep. Here’s a part on water, what it can symbolize—cleansing. Kind of what Iz and I did last week with the fire. That was cleansing too, like cauterizing a wound. And the water washes it. These thoughts absorbed her mind, as if they’d never been discovered by anyone else previously.

“Isa! Isa!” she called excitedly, waving the book in the air. “I have it! I have it! Let’s go back! Wait’ll I tell you!” A huge smile spread across her face, and took her beautiful green eyes along with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are many books about dream work and its symbolism out there. I've read a few in the past, but don't recall any of the titles. So this is just a generic dream work book that she picks up in the story.
> 
> You all probably know the lyrics. This the part that I felt was most relevant to this chapter.
> 
> …We’ve opened the door, and now it’s all coming through;  
>  Tell me that you see it too.  
>  We’ve opened our eyes and it’s changing the view.  
>  Oh what are we gonna do?  
>  We’ve opened the door and now it’s all coming through….


End file.
